


Take us to the mountains

by imperfekti



Category: Tennis no Oujisama | Prince of Tennis
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-06 22:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8772457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imperfekti/pseuds/imperfekti
Summary: Fuji and Chitose convince Tezuka to take them out into the mountains.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Another piece in my totally self-indulgent OT5-series. Set in their university years.

For two people who had seemed so different by first appearance, Fuji and Chitose sure had turned out to have surprisingly much in common. That’s what Tezuka thought while leading their small group onward on a route in Kamikouchi Valley with the two following him close behind, their happy chattering mixing with the ringing of their bear bells and singing of the birds in the surrounding forest.

For a start, they both had been quite persistent about making this trip. Fuji had already started talking about it in junior high school. Back then his wish had been to go with the whole team, but Tezuka had been away from the country a lot and the occasion had never risen during that time. When Chitose heard, some time around the end of high school, that Tezuka did mountaineering, the two had unexpectedly combined their persuasive powers, with the goal of getting Tezuka to take them to the mountains.

Admittedly, he had been slightly uneager about it in the beginning. It wasn’t because Tezuka didn’t enjoy their company in general. Fuji was, well, Fuji, and Chitose was a good person once you got to know him as he had. But traveling the mountains was something Tezuka had always done with his father, and for him the activity had a very specific mindset and atmosphere about it. Not to mention it was actually something to be planned and executed carefully. Setting a foot on a mountain, one needed to be prepared for everything, be equipped with all the necessary items and nothing more, and be very aware of what one was doing and where one was going. In short, mountaineering required practicality, something that from his perspective could not always be said to be one of neither Fuji’s nor Chitose’s strong points.

But despite his hesitation, in the end the inevitable couldn’t be avoided. After a half a year of Fuji’s casual, smiling lines of how nice it would be to go, combined with Chitose straight up telling him to stop being so stingy about it, he decided to agree to it. Surely with careful planning and an easy enough destination they would manage.

Still, after agreeing to their request, Tezuka had reason for doubt. When he listened to Fuji and Chitose discussing the types of campfire desserts they would love to have on the trip, or what kind of souvenirs they would like to buy depending on where they went, he wondered if his future climbing companions were expecting and preparing for the right things.

Not being sure about your company’s preparedness turned out being surprisingly stressful. For example, was Chitose joking or not when he asked if he needed to get some special shoes for the trip? Tezuka had to consider if Chitose needed to be told he could not go hiking with his wooden sandals or not. (He did told him in the end, just to be sure, and was laughed at.)

With Fuji, the problem wasn’t so much in the material side of things but in his high expectations. Before Tezuka had even laid out his plans for their destination and routes, Fuji had managed to acquire what seemed like a pretty extensive set of hiking gear, many of them from respected overseas brands. But when he started daydreaming about what kind of photographs he could get of the peak of Mount Asahi reflected on the Sugatami pond in the Daisetsuzan National Park, surrounded by snow, it was relatively hard for Tezuka to tell him he would not be taking people with next to no climbing experience all the way to Hokkaido to such a remote trail for their first trip. Fuji didn’t seem offended though, saying he would look forward to the time when Tezuka thought they would be ready for it. Tezuka thought they should focus on successfully getting through the first one before thinking so far ahead.

For their part, Fuji and Chitose also shot down a couple of Tezuka’s first suggestions for their destination as too close, too easy, too small - they wanted at least a two day trip, not one - before they could find something they all agreed on.

Eventually, they had decided on going to Kamikouchi. With many well trodden paths and impressive landscapes in the valley surrounded by several mountains that they could choose from for a partial climb, it would be a good compromise that could provide everyone with something. 

To be honest, the trip was going to be more about hiking and camping than about actual climbing. Had Tezuka been able to use the early September weekend with his father, he would have picked a more challenging route with steep, stony walls, something to complete this year's climbing season. But thinking about that wasn't helpful, and the mountains would still be there next year.

To their credit, Chitose and Fuji did do their research about the place, and while Tezuka couldn’t look forward to a good, challenging climb, the group calls they made to refine and finalize the plans did eventually assure him they could have a pleasant, decent trip in other ways. After all, it was not as if it was a bad thing to have his boyfriend and a close friend being interested and involved in something that was important to him, despite his initial wariness.

Chitose had asked Tachibana and Shiraishi to join them for the rare chance to go on the trip with Tezuka as their guide, but neither had been able to make it. Shiraishi was tied up in his hometown Osaka during the weekend for some charity-by-tennis thing one of his former teammates was organizing, and Tachibana was too busy coaching and managing the current generation of badly funded Fudoumine junior high tennis team. In a way, Tezuka was relieved. While he would actually have trusted his fellow ex-captains to be better suited for the trip than his other two friends - they were often a lot more down to earth in their thinking than the two others - he still preferred taking care of two beginners to four.

When the day finally came, they packed Fuji’s family car and got on the road in the early hours of the morning. Fuji was driving, despite his brother asking if Tezuka wasn’t a better a driver before they left. He had felt a small hint of something like guilt when Fuji had told him Tezuka had enough to take care of on the trip as it was, so he should at least do that much himself.

As it turned out, Tezuka had overestimated the need for caretaking once they were actually on their way. The drive went well, with Tezuka reading the map and Chitose dozing off on the back seat. The closer they got to their destination, the increasing green around them started having it’s effect even before they were quite there yet. Unnecessary worries and daily life considerations begun fading away, as if thrown off along the way from the city to nature.

They had purposefully decided on going after the high season, and it seemed to have been the right decision. The weather was still pleasant, but the summer’s crowds had lessened. There weren’t many others around at where they parked and started their hike - Tezuka in his worn boots, Fuji and Chitose in their new ones.

The two talked a lot at first. Chitose asked Tezuka about how he had gotten into the hobby in the first place, Fuji recalled some outdoor excursions with his family on their trips abroad. Tezuka told them about some of more the memorable climbs he had had with his father. Speaking of him, Tezuka remembered his words from before he left home after fetching the necessary equipment, too space consuming to be kept at the university dorm: “isn’t it about time you went with your friends?”

After a couple hours into the trail, both Chitose and Fuji had quieted down to pay genuine attention to their surroundings. Breaks occurred naturally with Fuji asking to stop for a while to photograph this plant or that view. Chitose made accurate observations of the weather, and while his pace was rather slow, his reach was long and grip steady when he beat Tezuka to helping Fuji climb up a stony path they had to use before finally making it to higher ground.

The day seemed to go by in a flash.

Tezuka had tried to budget enough time for the day’s ascent so it would still be light out when they made it to the area he had planned for camping, but it seemed like their pace had been slower than he anticipated. It was not dark yet, but they did have to hurry in setting up the family tent Tezuka had brought along to get it done before the sun set behind the mountainous horizon in the west. Setting their camp up took some more time than usual as well, and Tezuka noticed Fuji rolling his shoulders and not quite hurrying to do what he was asked. Perhaps, Tezuka thought, the way up had been a bit taxing for him after all. He hadn’t complained once, though.

After getting the tent ready, they put up a small fire. The day had been warm but with the sun gone it was getting cooler, making them draw out some extra clothing from their backpacks before settling near the campfire to enjoy their dinner. Chitose had brought dried fish and onigiri while Tezuka was responsible for carrying the water. They made tea and a simple miso soup, and like always, Tezuka thought a humble meal like that tasted the best after a day in the outdoors.

The birds were still singing somewhere not too far away, providing a clear, melodious sound to complement Fuji's soft humming while he peeled the pears to be served as dessert with ginger syrup. Chitose had stopped talking about the article he had recently read on the neurological effects of walking in a forest, and listened. The fire cracked when Tezuka threw a new piece of wood in, carefully enough so as to not send sparks flying around too much.

They ended up staying up relatively late around the fire. Usually Tezuka would have gone to sleep with his father earlier, to catch the special feeling of a cool and fresh morning air and get moving early the next day. This time he expected to not be able to continue so early in the morning, so he didn’t feel it necessary to rush his companions off to sleep just yet.

They didn’t talk that much anymore either, each of them seeming content listening to the sounds of nature and breathing in the atmosphere. As the night grew dark there wasn’t much to look at either, save for the flames in their fire and the stars in the sky, shining brightly compared to the few, mellow dots they were usually able to see in the city. Fuji said it was a shame it wasn’t like this all the time, and Chitose told them the night sky in Kumamoto was only relatively better than Tokyo, but that this was something else. Listening to them starting to point out constellations, turning to Tezuka to ask if he could name some they didn’t know, he realized it had probably been quite selfish of him to be so difficult about bringing them here.

It was Chitose who first indicated sleepiness. Stretching long arms high up in the air, he said he was going to hit the tent and told them to take their time if they felt like it. Tezuka hadn’t been thinking about their social situation too much during the day when they were on the move, but with Fuji thanking Chitose and telling him to sleep well, at that moment he did feel a little awkward.

Of course, Chitose knew about him and Fuji, and as far as Tezuka knew he was supportive of it. And thanks to Fuji, Tezuka himself also knew something about the things between Chitose, Tachibana and Shiraishi, and while it seemed a bit more complicated, if not exactly difficult to the ones involved, Tezuka felt he was at least indebted to show the same level of discretion and acceptance, even if the situations and relationships varied from his own.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious and a little out of place from having been drawn to think about such things in a place usually reserved for distancing oneself from all such issues, Tezuka kept his eyes in the fire as he was left alone with Fuji. After they heard Chitose finally shuffling into the tent and rummaging with his sleeping bag, Fuji stood up and took the few steps needed to bring him to sit down right next to Tezuka.

They were barely touching. When Tezuka eventually glanced at Fuji, he seemed to turn his face from the fire at the same time, smiling slightly. Fuji seemed to be looking for something on his face, so Tezuka waited. When Fuji spoke, his voice voice was already sleepy as he told Tezuka he hoped they hadn’t held him back too much. Looking at Fuji’s face with the fire casting a warm, moving light on his skin, eyes not fully open anymore, Tezuka realized he must have stayed up later than what was comfortable for him after a tiring day, to share this moment with him. When Fuji called his name, expecting an answer, Tezuka leaned in to kiss him.

In the morning Tezuka was the first one up. After taking a little walk close to their camp, he began setting up a gas stove to make some tea to go with their breakfast for when the other two woke up. He didn’t hurry with the task. Fuji had been sleeping in the middle, face turned to Chitose when Tezuka had left the tent.

He was already sipping the tea when he heard stirring in the tent, followed with Chitose telling Fuji good morning. He couldn’t make out all the words when they started talking about the dreams they had seen during the night and how their backs felt after sleeping on hard ground with only a thin mattress. Of course, it wasn’t Tezuka’s place to be listening either.

He did however hear it when Chitose asked Fuji if he should have offered to stay up later last night, instead of making the two of them stay outside. Fuji laughed softly, and Tezuka thought he heard him say that it had been alright, as they had quite enjoyed the night air.

When the two finally made it out of the tent, Tezuka had barely time to hand them their cups of tea before Chitose asked if they still had enough food with them to prolong their trip for a second night. The day seemed pretty and they were having such a good time, after all.


End file.
